Elderly Nanyuki man gets 30 years for child trafficking

KENYA: An elderly man living with disability convicted of child trafficking was slapped with a Sh30 million fine by a Nanyuki court.

Julius Nyaga Njeru was ordered to pay the fine or face a 30-year-jail term after he pleaded guilty to child trafficking charges. He committed the offence on Monday.

His pleas for a lenient sentence, saying he is living with disability and that he has grandchildren who depend on him fell on deaf years, with Senior Resident Magistrate Evanson Bett noting the penalties created by the Act were severe and set in their minimum.

Njeru appeared before the court on Wednesday, where he was charged with child trafficking.

Particulars of the offence read that on October 26 at Solio village in Naru Moru, Nyeri County, Njeru was found trafficking in person by way of deception to unknown direction, a child aged 13 years.

Police noted that the accused intended to traffick the girl for purposes of child labour exploitation in contravention of Section 3 (1) (d), as read with Section (3) (5) of Counter Trafficking in person Act No. 8 of 2010.

Prosecutor Peter Nzemya told the court that the accused first met the girl on October 19 as she was heading home.
“She was in the company of two of her school mates and they had been sent home to collect school fees. The accused approached them and claimed he was in a position to secure house girl jobs for them in Nairobi,” said Nzemya.

Njeru advised the girls to pick their clothes from their respective homes so that they could travel to Nairobi.
“But when she got home, her elder sister advised her against the idea. But on October 25 when the minor was heading home from Sunday school, she met the accused again and he gave her Sh60 for her to board a motorcycle so that she could go home and pick her clothes,” said Nzemya.

 PLEAD GUILTY

But the plan backfired when her elder sister spotted her and promptly called police officers, who arrested the suspect. Njeru pleaded guilty to the charges.

During mitigation, he said he was a person with disability who also took care of his children and grandchildren.

But the magistrate said the court took cognisance of the mitigation and in particular that he has children who depend on him, and that he is a person with disability.

“Inasmuch as the court sympathises with the accused, it has no option but to impose the sentence which is spelt out by the Act,” Bett noted.

“Accordingly, the accused person shall pay the minimum set fine of Sh30 million and in default thereof serve 30 years imprisonment,” he added.

Njeru was escorted to Nanyuki GK prison after he failed to raise the fine.